Mental health and our students

This blog post  has nothing to do with maps but a more serious topic of mental health in our country.

So I have two step sons, one is 16 and the other is 14.  Since my 16 year old was in 8th grade he has had a dark cloud over his head but his father was in denial and wouldn't admit there was an issue.  As he has gotten older his depression has worsened.  We got him into counseling, but that didn't seem to change much.  He got put on medication, still the dark cloud, maybe even darker.  His friend group started dropping, I don't know if it had to do with his outlook or the fact that his friends had different interests, such as sports, but as of last year he was down to one friend.  This friend was not a good influence on him and his little brother ratted him out for sneaking out and smoking pot.  So as parents do, we stopped letting him spend time with this kid.  He was also developing some extremely negative and hateful views that were coming from this kid.

His depression worsened.  He started his junior year and was not happy with his classes even though the year before he was so excited he could take 3 art classes.  He was in Algebra 2 and failing every assignment.  He did start talking about a friend.  Now here is a problem, I work in his school, and I can find out about just about anyone in 5 minutes, and this kid is bad news bears.  So another "friend" we wouldn't allow him to spend time with.  He was saying things like we are both losers so we have things in common and we would encourage him that he was not a loser at all, he was just struggling.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, 16 (that's what we will call him), got home from school and no one was home.  He called Bad News Bears and took his bike out in the pouring rain to get some drugs from him.  He was leaving as I was getting home and said he was going to take some extra credit pictures for his photography class.  He even took some pictures as an alibi.

That night he went to his mom's, I don't know if he look the drugs or not (which apparently was acid), but his mom was trying to help him with his work, he was zoning out, not paying attention, and not trying and it turned into a blow out.  The next morning he had a meeting at school to get his 504 plan reinstated and he told them he wanted to live with his dad and I full time.  He was mad at his mom about the night before so he was told no and that he needed to got to his mom's that night as planned.

His mom was picking him up from school that day and he never showed.  We though well maybe he took the bus... nope.  His phone was shut off so we couldn't track it.  And we started to panic.  We searched along the river , where he liked to walk and bike, we searched at all the locations we knew he went to.  We couldn't find him anywhere.  I called the police and while filing a report he turned his phone on.  He was found in a local coffee shop, with some other kids.  So what do we do???... the kid has no friends and he's in there socializing which is a good thing, but he had disappeared and worried us.  Do we send the officer in there or do we wait it out so he's not embarrassed?  The consensus was to wait it out.   When he came out that's where the stress of the next two weeks began.  His mom and dad went after him to talk and he admitted he had planned to jump off the bridge into the stream and end his life that night.  Crisis was called... he was taken to the ER, and admitted the next day to the local mental hospital.  We did the right thing.... we got him help.  He was where he couldn't hurt himself.  Our story could have had a much darker ending but it didn't.

He wasn't really working with the counselors, he didn't want visitors, but from what I know about mental health it can take time.  From some of the things he had said CPS came to check to make sure our home was safe and that his mother home was safe.  Not a fun thing to go through but I understand that they are just making sure everything is okay.  Then came yesterday.  His mom and dad went to the hospital for their weekly meeting with the clinician and were told "insurance will not pay anymore and oh by the way they stopped paying 2 days ago and you owe us $20,000."  WHAT!?!?!  After a lot of back and forth with the insurance company and the hospital talking to them they agreed to pay up until yesterday, but not a day longer, so they discharged him.

No safety plan, no instructions, just okay go home now.  So now I have a kid who at least two weeks ago was suicidal in my home.  A kid who had brought drugs into my home, where I have a 4 year old.  He will return to school tomorrow.  He had admitted to selling his ADHD drugs at school and has said things like "I wouldn't care if everyone there was dead." School had been the trigger for his depression.   If we were on Mainecare (the state provided low income insurance) he could have stayed indefinitely.  Let me tell you this, I love my school and my co-workers and they are going to make his transition back in as smooth as possible, but that doesn't mean he won't be triggered again.

How can society not help a child in crisis.  Instead of helping him he is thrown back into the lions den that brought this on to begin with.  I want to help in any way I can.  He has a loving family, but we are not mental health professionals and sometimes I don't know if what I do helps or hurts him.

Now before you start saying "she needs to parent better", or judge us for this, that is not the purpose of my story.  This is to give a real life example of what is happening to some of our students.  They need help and we aren't equipped to give it to them.  They scream for help and the people who are equipped to help them won't if they can't pay.  (It would have been $10,000 a day for him to stay).  So when we judge students who are struggling and their families we don't know the entire story. and the struggle they are going through.

I'm going to be there for my step-son.  I am going to support him and help him in anyway I can, I'm going to take precautions to keep him safe.  But how many parents are dealing with this and don't have a background in education and child and adolescent development- I do and I don't feel equipped- what about them?  It has made me think about my students.  I am going to support my students who are in crisis and be a rock for them as I always have tried to be.  Most parents and teachers are trying to do the best we can, but the supports for our kids are minimal.  Our country should be ashamed.  These years are critical for kids, and they can often define the course of their lives, but when in crisis the collective we says whatever let someone else deal with it, and then we wonder why we have a opioid epidemic, mass shootings, homelessness, and violent crimes.  We need universal health care, we need to end the stigma around mental health,  and we need educational funding to make sure students have access to the supports they need.

If you have stuck with me through this I appreciate it.  It has been a rough few weeks, but we will get through it and we will get him through it, because of Love.

Esri and being a Teacher Video Challenger Winner

I've been working a lot with ArcGIS online for almost 5 years now.  This amazing mapping technology has completely changed my teaching and given me so many experiences I would not have otherwise had.  

It all started with an amazing 3 day PD at the University of Maine at Farmington in 2015 with the Maine Geographic Alliance- The presenters are ALL now friends and GIS colleagues 

Then 2016 I actually went to Esri in Redlands, CA for T3G (Teachers teaching teachers GIS) where I met the most amazing people including many important people in Esri Education who I have continued to work with

I was invited to Louisville to look at a GIS teacher certification with other GIS educators from around the country

I've been asked to present at conferences on using GIS in the classroom including the National Geographic Education Summit and most recently I presented 2 sessions on making Story Maps at the North East ArcUsers Conference (NEARC) at Sunday River.  

My passion is teaching other teachers about this awesome technology, but I also love teaching students to use this technology, so imagine my excitement when I found out last Friday that I am this months Esri Teacher Video Challenge Winner for my work with GIS in my classroom.  I will be recording a 3 minute video next week for Esri talking about how I use ArcGIS in my classes and I get $500!  (I'm buying computer mice and a 360 camera for my class).  

It's amazing how passionate I have become about this company and this software.  All K-12 schools get a free ArcGIS organizational account.  I'm also very excited they are starting a national campaign and have released their first commercial, which means they will becoming a name recognized in households around the world.  

National Geographic Education Summit 2019

A week ago I returned from the National Geographic Education Summit, where I had been invited to co-lead a session on using ArcGIS online in the classroom.  This week has been crazy since coming back but I have to blog about this amazing experience.

So on Thursday October 3rd, I worked half a day and then boarded a plane to DC at noon to head for the conference.  Here I am listening to Michelle Obama's Book Becoming.  An hour and a half later I was landing at Ronald Reagan.

I took the metro from Reagan to the city and walked from the Metro station to my hotel.

 

 

I was tired (I had worked that morning) so I though I might take a nap, but then I realized how close I was to the Whitehouse so I decided to take a walk.  There were protesters out and sooooo many secret service agents around.

 
 

I then walked over to National Geographic for the Reception and Opening Ceremony.  I walked in an immediately ran into other GIS people I knew.  The reception was amazing, so much food, open bar, great conversation.  Then we went into the Grosvenor Auditorium and heard about the National Geographic Strategy and from some amazing presenters, we even went on a VR dive to swim with the Manna Rays.  This set the stage for the rest of the weekend.  I can't even remember all I learned I just know it was amazing, the explorers, the research, the imagery, and people.  I am now horrified by plastics, amazed by photography, want to explore the world, and map it all.  I worked with some other amazing GIS teachers and our presentations went very well.  I got to talk with educators in Mexico through a portal, learn about how Genetics works in creating medicines, oh and did I mention the people.  Every photo of me at the event I am glowing, I was in my element, and all I could think about is how do I make this my everyday.  I want to work with educators, I want to teach them how to teach about the world and use GIS, but I live in Maine and have a family here.  I think this is my big take from the whole thing is I need to figure out how to make this my reality, working with amazing professionals who inspire me, allowing me to travel, keeping me in education but in a different aspect, but still live in Maine with my family.

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

By the time it ended on Saturday afternoon I had fallen even more in love with National Geographic and Esri, if that is at all possible.  I still had some time to explore the city and I did, the entire time thinking about how I can do this type of work all the time.  

 

THANK YOU ESRI FOR INVITING ME TO BE ONE OF YOUR VOICES AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FOR THE AMAZING EXPERIENCE!

Exciting start to the year

It has been a busy start to the school year.  I have 3 freshmen geography classes, 2 US History courses, and 2 students doing GIS independent studies.  I am also trying to get a mapping club going as well.  Oh and the 2 technology graduate classes I am taking.  Also my 4 year old is playing soccer.  So if that doesn't sound crazy enough a couple weeks ago I got an email inviting me to Washington DC to the National Geographic Education Summit.

Now I am a National Geographic Certified teacher and a Phase 1 certification trainer (you want to go through it come to the Maine Council for the Social Studies annual conference I am running a session), but I never expected to get an invitation to a conference where airfare and lodging are completely paid for.  I went through the nightmarish process of requesting the days off on the new system we have this year (that's a story for another time) and got them approved and then I got an email from National Geographic asking if I would be willing to be a co-presenter for a session on GIS at the Summit.

Okay let me recap- I am being asked to present at National Geographic!!!!!!!!! I am screaming on the inside.  I was recommended personally by my idol, Charlie Fitzpatrick, who is the Esri Education Manager (dream job).  So I'm freaking out a little bit.  I've been going over my presentation and over and over and meeting virtually with my teammates.

So needless to say things are crazy but so so exciting.  I have a dream of being chosen for the National Geographic Grosvenor Fellowship this year and this is going to look great on my application.

I plan to do some live tweeting on my trip so stay tuned for that.  Wish me luck.
Wheels up in 12 days!

5 friends we need as teachers

2 weeks until we go back to school.  I don't know about you guys but I am so not ready, but I am ready to see my people which is why we are going out for drinks tonight.  I work with the most amazing people.  These people make work fun and entertaining.  It made me think about the types of teacher friends we need. 

1. The crazy one-  That teacher friend who outside of school you would never know they were a teacher.  The have fun all the time.  They will drag you to a dive karaoke bar and then ditch you with a guy you probably shouldn't be ditched with.  They are the life of the party and when you see them in the halls at school all you can do is smile... because you know.

2. The responsible one-  This one has responsibilities both in and out of school.  They stay at work late and have to go home from functions early.  They keep you grounded and remind you of your responsibilities too.  They care about everyone and are a great source of positivity.  When you are having a bad day they are there to cheer you up.

3. The entertainer-  This teacher friend is the life of the party.  They always have a story and crazy things happening to them.  This friend could write a book with all the crazy antics they have seen.  They make you laugh constantly.  They also know everything else that is going on in the school because everyone tells them everything... even if they don't want to know.  This friend makes your days bearable. 

4. The newbie-  This kid just started teaching and they are still kind of living their college life, but with a pay check.  They don't have many responsibilities so they can do whatever they want.  They are stuck working with the veterans (aka old people) and encourage them to embrace their younger selfs and go out and cut loose.  You will end up with a hangover if you try to keep up with them... but they will be at the gym the next morning like it was nothing.

5.  The follower-  This friend is up for anything.  They are the friend you throw under the bus when volunteers are asked for.  All you have to do is say let's do something and they are there.  You can typically depend on them for anything especially getting a drink after a long week... or day.

Can you think of any other type of friends we need as teachers? Which one are you?  Drop your comments below. 

#clearthelists

So the #clearthelist movement has taken the twitterverse by storm and it is a great movement.  Teachers often have to buy their own classroom supplies and this allows people with means to buy them pencils and paper they need. 
My classroom wishlist is a bit different and honestly I feel bad sharing it because so many teachers are looking for paper and pencils.  I started my wish list a while ago with dreams and ideas for my classroom.  A drone for aerial photography for my geography students, a 3D printer to print out topographic maps, and create game pieces for historic games, and then this week after attending Summer Tech in Portland, Maine, a Google Expeditions kit and ipads got added to my wishlist.  So to clear my list it would be around $10,000. 

It seems teachers are donating to other teachers classrooms and that is great but doesn't that defeat the point.  We are limited and not even getting the basic supplied let alone in having a say in what technology we have to teach with in our classroom.  And that is the point: the teachers with the best ideas and plans don't have the resources to initiate those plans.  They don't get a say in how they go about teaching because they don't have a say in the resources they get to teach they way they want. 

I hope you all get your lists cleared by people who have the means to clear them.  Mine is a dream list so unless $10,000 is pocket change to you (I'm looking at you Zuckerburg) don't worry about me.  I make due.  Help out those teachers who need it. 
-TLM

Let's do this!

Okay hi everyone.  After spending a few days at a tech conference in Portland, Maine  I decided to start a blog.  What will the blog be about I asked myself? Pedagogy?  Technology?  My obsession of GIS? How about a little of it all and balancing life with a fun and snarky twist.  So follow along and lets see how this goes.