Thanks…

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To me, the Edublog awards aren’t about distinction, or “winners,” or getting a sweet badge for your blog. They’re about appreciation, and recognizing people who have positively impacted my practice. Thank you to these amazing educators as well as to the hundreds of other bloggers whose work I read each week. You’ve truly made a difference in the way I think about education, and you help me love to learn.

* Best individual blogDavid Truss – Pair-a-Dimes for your Thoughts

David is an amazing soul. He is consistently positive, eager to help colleagues, and his posts are inspirational and informative. I appreciate reading about his experiences and ideas, and I’m thankful he has taken the time to comment on my own thoughts on many occasions.

* Best individual tweeter – Patrick Larkin @bhsprincipal

It’s been a privilege getting to know and work with Patrick this year. I always know the resources he shares on Twitter and his blog will benefit my work with kids!

* Best resource sharing blog – Richard Byrne – Free Technology for Teachers

Each week I share various “tech” resources with my staff. This is the site I first reference when looking for great tools and ideas to share. Every time.

* Best teacher blog – John T. Spencer – Spencer’s Scratch Pad

John’s writing style drew me in immediately. I keep reading because of the very honest, real way he depicts life as a teacher and his poignant interactions with his students. The guy also earns some serious points in the wit category.

* Best school administrator blog– George Couros – The Principal of Change

George reminds us, in every post, that administrators are human. His writing displays emotion, shares his successes (and sometimes failures), conveys enthusiasm for his school, students, and lifelong learning, and inspires us all.

* Best educational use of video/visual Shelly Terrell –Teacher Reboot Camp

Shelly’s 30 Goals challenge first led me to this amazing blog, so full of resources and know-how. Love her featured interviews with educators from around the world. She’s also so supportive of everyone in her network!

* Best educational wiki – Dianne Krause | eToolbox

If one of my teachers needs a tutorial on how to use a certain tool, or ideas about the relevance of the tool and its use in the classroom, I go to this wiki. This resource is so comprehensive and user-friendly. And Dianne’s a Pennsylvania girl, so… that makes her even more awesome.

It’s no surprise that many of the listed blogs/people are contributors to Connected Principals. It’s been an absolute pleasure to get to know and share with these educators this year. Thanks again to George for envisioning CP and bringing it to life.

Which leads me to…

* Best group blog– Connected Principals

* Most influential tweet / series of tweets / tweet based discussion– #cpchat

* Best use of a PLN – Connected Principals


Playing school or living learning?

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I was honored to contribute to Amy Sandvold’s Passion-Driven Leader blog. Please visit her blog to be inspired as more educational leaders share their passions! This is the post I shared…

“Playing school” was one of my favorite pastimes when I was a child. My two younger brothers influenced my playtime habits (think He-Man, Transformers, and GI Joe adventures), but I repeatedly subjected them to assuming the role of “student,” sitting attentively in the makeshift classroom in our playroom. My mother would bring home used basal readers or textbooks if she was yard sale browsing. Whenever my teacher was purging supplies, I’d grab stacks of old workbooks and handwriting paper. Our stuffed animals and dolls joined my brothers as pupils. I’d stand in front of a giant chalkboard and review math facts and spelling words. I made worksheets, they’d complete them, and then I’d grade them. I rewarded their efforts with star stickers. We went out for recess. I loved playing school!

Out of curiosity I Googled “playing school” and came across this Wikihow article detailing 17 how-to steps for playing school.  It made me laugh. And simultaneously sad. Here are a few high/lowlights:

  • The sheer ridiculousness of Step 9: Make a misbehaving list. “If the students misbehave, they’ll have their name added to the list, which will result in loss of privileges.” The dreaded list… also troubling is the “I’m going to put your name on the board and put checkmarks next to it with each infraction” visual.
  • And Step 17, that I’m sure this teacher and this principal would really appreciate: Have a reward system. “If your students do good deeds, add a gold star to a chart, or make a special mark by their name and they can get a special treat! And, reward them if they do good with a substitute. And don’t reward them if they are bad.” Note to new teachers everywhere: equip your classroom with gold stars, charts, the “list” (see above), and treats, and you’ll be just fine.
  • Fundamental materials described in Step 6: Get a teacher’s notebook. “You’ll use this for keeping attendance, the timetables, behavior codes and grades. And, you should probably draw out the plans for that day. If you are teaching P.E., track the students’ progress.” So many key essentials in one notebook? I enjoy how the author mentions you should probably draw out plans for the day. Nice to see mention of P.E., though.

The most valuable part of this article is found in the “Tips” section below the step-by-step guide:
“Make sure that the kids have fun. Make it enjoyable for them. Don’t bore them!” Point well taken!

I don’t pretend for a second that the Wikihow entry meant to serve as a resource grounded in educational best practice, or even a resource that anyone is ever meant to gaze their eyes upon, ever, but it does raise some interesting points about the perceptions of what teachers and students do in schools and the purpose that education, and educators, serve.

Unfortunately, playing school isn’t good enough when it becomes our life work. Yet many educators do just that. They go through the motions. Teaching is a job to them. The monotony of the same lessons, schedules, and curriculum, year after year, can gradually cause the passionate spark once held by a teacher or administrator to fizzle. With good intentions, these educators continue with business as usual, because frankly, it is comfortable, and it has worked (sort of) thus far. Adding to the stress of the daily lives of teachers and administrators are the countless legislative mandates, conflicts with stakeholders, dwindling budgets, and attempts to bring change to institutions that are among the hardest to change. The passion that may have once been there, in the early days and years of teaching, fades alarmingly fast.

What is passion? Many things. An outburst of strong emotion or feeling. A strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything. What can we do to avoid playing school in our daily work with students? How do we remain passionate educators?

Some teachers are passionate about their content areas. They have absolute enthusiasm for chemistry and everything it represents and means to our world. They genuinely want students to develop a passion for chemistry akin to the passion they currently possess. I think of Dan Meyer who clearly is passionate about mathematics, but he goes a huge step above and beyond respect for the content. He works tirelessly to ensure his students (and the rest of us) are truly engaged in thinking about mathematics. Without that passion – the passion to craft learning experiences that help his students own their learning, his affinity for mathematics is just that- a content area he thinks is kind of cool.

Some educators are passionate about the shift. They develop PLNs, inspire each other through blog posts, presentations at conferences, and #edchats. They seek to infuse technologies meaningfully into student learning experiences, not for the sake of the tool, but for the sake of learning. They and their students are driven by the desire to collaborate, create, and think critically. Teachers, principals and superintendents are becoming transparent learners as if to say, “We love what we do. We’re so excited about what the future brings! And we want to share that with you!”

Some educators are passionate about connecting their students with the world. They are helping their students reflect on their learning through blogs, involving them in projects that help make the world a better place, and are developing partnerships with schools that are separated by thousands of miles.

No matter which direction the passionate educator takes, one thing is certain. A passionate educator cares about kids. A passionate educator LIKES kids. Every decision made, every action taken, every word spoken, is done so with their best interests in mind. We love working with kids. They touch our hearts with their hilarious anecdotes, determination, imagination, smiles, and inventive spellings. They’re the reason we come to work each day. And if students are not the reasons why you vie for that parking spot nearest to the door each morning, then I might suggest that you are playing school – you are not living learning– and you need to reevaluate your place in our educational system and children’s lives.

Early in my life I knew I wanted to be a teacher. Shortly into my career I was inspired by my fantastic administrators to follow that path. There are days that absolutely drain me, and make me wonder why it is I continue to do what I do.

Then I see two kindergarten students walking hand-in-hand to return books to the library.
And a first grader asks to read me a story. We sit on the carpet and she reads beautifully.
A sixth grader offers a heartfelt apology to me.
A teacher leaves a handwritten note on my desk telling me how much she appreciates my support.
A parent cries in my office about a family situation and asks for our help supporting her child.
I watch a teacher skillfully lead a small group of students in a discussion about the theme of a story and its impact on their lives.
An entire fifth grade class offers to help our custodian put away chairs after an assembly.

Then I realize, I no longer play school.
I live it.

What does it look like?

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What does it look like?

Administrators visit classrooms. They may focus on “look fors” while visiting and consider “ask abouts” in their discussions with teachers. After reading Danielle’s Thoughts on Connectivism and Where We Really Are, and her struggles with finding ways to incorporate connected learning opportunities in her school where perhaps the administration and community has not yet embraced these ideals, I appreciated her list of “these-are-the-things-I-can-do”s. Because that’s what we’re asking for, right? For teachers to try to do things just a little bit differently? To consider the possibilities? To take risks and have an open mind?

After reading Danielle’s thoughts, Lisa Christen asked me to consider what connected, constructivist learning may look like in the elementary classroom. I told her that sounded like some fine material for a blog post. So here we go.

Opportunities for student collaboration – This is easy. Children are social creatures. Do they inherently know how to collaborate effectively to problem solve? No. So we need to model that for them and help them acquire skills for doing so. There are many ways to infuse technology into this practice, but the tools won’t ensure students are collaborating. Primary students can handle this. Example. Last week I observed a first grade lesson where students had just finished reading a picture book about the life of George Washington Carver. Their next learning task? Work in teams to invent something new with the “peanut” as the key ingredient. You get the same tools Carver had available to him. Brainstorm your ideas, draw your process, write your steps, present to the class. Think like scientists. The ensuing thoughts were not only hilarious, they were creative and sparked children’s interest in the process of invention. Peanut crayon? Genius. Peanut clay? I’d buy it. Students took on different roles: team leaders emerged, some jumped right into sketching their designs, others teamed up to describe their steps. Was there a test following this activity? Nope. Was there even a rubric? Nah. Did they learn anything? They clearly did. I watched them do it.

Outside of the classroom, there are so many opportunities for connected learning in which we need our children to take part. Skype with an author or a pen-pal class. Create and maintain a system for housing student blogs. The possibilities with writing, commenting, reflecting, and passionate learning are endless. Begin the process of having students develop portfolios of their work. What an amazing opportunities for them to grow and reflect as learners. Create a Twitter account for your class and use it to connect with other classes, schools, and parents.

Learning is connected – So many standards, so little time. Why we teach subjects in isolation in elementary school is truly mind-blowing to me. Here we are, in a school where a student is likely to spend his entire day with one-three teachers who know him really well. I believe we should be rewriting elementary curriculum to address basic skills in a way that is truly integrated across disciplines. Imagine the connections students could make if they spent two weeks immersed in Colonial Life. From the second they walked through the door, they were transported to a time of the early Americas where every problem they solved, piece of writing they composed, and book they read reflected essential learning strands grounded in that theme. They’d be living their learning.

Stay true to constructivist theory – What I want to emphasize here is that constructivism is a learning theory, not a method of teaching.  Constructivism suggests that children (aka people) learn by constructing knowledge out of their experiences. Students need to construct knowledge by connecting new material to the knowledge they already possess. (Or think they do.) Let’s also ask our children to “deconstruct” their knowledge. Question everything. Prove it to be so. Evaluate the “right answers.” Find the resources to do so. In an elementary classroom, this can be achieved with carefully thought-out processes for delivering content. Consider a math lesson where the objective for students is to learn how to add fractions with unlike denominators. In most instances, the teacher will demonstrate how to do this, explain the steps, review key vocabulary terms, then ask the children to practice a few problems, then do some for homework. Snooze. The child in that scenario is a passive, not active, participant in the learning process. Instead, present a story problem with fractions with unlike denominators as the key ingredients. Ask students to solve the problem. Give them manipulatives, access to resources, and each other to solve the problem. Don’t look for the right answer- look for the process, and for students to be able to explain to one another how they arrived at the “solution.” Bring the class together to evaluate the methods and determine a course of action for solving similar problems. Allow them to argue and make mistakes. Guide them along the way.

Student choice– In the elementary classroom, particularly in the primary grades, we are pretty skilled with providing differentiated learning opportunities for students based on their academic needs. Where we sometimes miss the boat is providing those same small group or individual, passion-driven learning experiences for students, or designing our lessons to allow for more student choice. How can this be accomplished when there is so much curriculum to “cover” and so many standards to address? We need to shift our energies from thinking that every student needs to master every standard, every year. It’s just unrealistic, and frankly, inappropriate. We need to start looking at the big picture. I believe we need to help our children learn how to read and comprehend what they read. From there, they will work wonders. Why not lay out for students the content topics to be explored in social studies for the year, and ask them to choose where they’d like to first start exploring? Or, within a science unit on ecosystems, give students the freedom to choose through which ecosystem they’ll show mastery of the big ideas? And allow them to choose the method in which they’ll demonstrate their learning. Maybe every once and awhile we need to just stop with the routine and give kids what they really want. They’ll never be more engaged.

Opportunities to connect with teachers outside of school – Here I’d like to see a focus on communication with the student and the family outside of school. One thing that has been really powerful for us this year is the development of our teacher webpages. While students are not always contributing content to the pages, the teacher is posting curricular topics, links to relevant material, examples of student work, photos, etc. to share with parents. The parent has access to our classroom experiences 24/7. We are fortunate in that parents are very involved in our school, but we need to do a better job engaging, rather than simply involving, parents in the learning process.

I met with a teacher today who truly wants to transform her practice and student learning. But she is at a loss. She doesn’t know how to balance the enormity of the standards and curricular demands with her passion for bringing individualized, engaging learning experiences to every one of her students. After combating a moment of helplessness where I thought, “How can I possibly tell her she can do this?”, we cracked open the curriculum and decided which of the listed standards were just unnecessary. We talked about the big ideas and ways she could start incorporating project-based, student-centered learning experiences into the content areas. We’ll support her. She’ll make mistakes, and I’ll be okay with that. She is so driven, so student-centered, that her students will learn more this year than ever before.

I’m confident about that, and I know that every time I visit her room and watch her children learn, I’ll know that’s what it looks like.

The power of positivity.

Positive-Thinking

In the face of adversity, we make choices. We decide how and to what extent we will involve ourselves in tackling conflicts. There are organizational conflicts and personnel conflicts. Even personal ones. We can’t control how others will act. We can only control how we will respond to crises, changes, and situations.

There is nothing more disheartening to me than encountering “professionals” that let negativity dictate their interactions with students, colleagues, and parents. I am not immune to the fact that the demands placed on teachers are limitless. Administrators find themselves equally as burdened by mandates, changing directives, disgruntled parents and staff, finicky students, and the daily grind of what is the life of an administrator. Those of us that enjoy our work tend to thrive on these challenges; we enjoy brainstorming solutions and problem solving in order to improve our schools and learning experiences for students.

Enter the power of positivity. As administrators, we cannot expect our staff members to exude positivity without demonstrating this quality through our leadership. Kim Cameron of the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship, the author of Positive Leadership, is a useful resource for this topic. While some of our schools focus on maintaining daily operations and remaining status quo (or are frankly just in survival mode), others are interested in taking learning to the next level for the entire organization. What formerly was good enough just isn’t good enough anymore. Cameron refers to this as positive deviancy, going beyond the norm in a positive direction, which will cause organizations to flourish, not just exist.

Consider this graphic that details how organizational strategies can be based on the positive:

PositiveStrategies-1yso61o

Focusing on the positives in these four domains: climate, meaning, communication, and relationships, will enable leaders to take the next step in supporting a flourishing organization. (Notice what is at the heart of all of these domains: people. We’re truly in the people business.)

It easier to creative a positive learning culture in a school experiencing success. The difficulties lie in times of adversity. When budgets are cut. When the pressure is on to perform. When children’s home lives aren’t ideal. When there is conflict among staff. When the administrative team isn’t supportive. When there aren’t enough resources.

We talk of reform and of change. So many in my PLN and school organization are dedicated to improving education for their students and children, yet each day we encounter others in our communities who continue to resist and thus dampen our efforts. We cannot stand for this negativity. We cannot tolerate excuses.

Instead, we must lead positively and support our colleagues along the way. What are some ways you’ve remained positive in your leadership efforts? How do you promote positivity in your organization? I’ve found these simple strategies to be successful:

  • Smile. Smile at people when you greet them. Smile when they say something amazing. Smile when they say something that exasperates you. If you give the impression that you are frustrated, upset, worried, etc., the people with whom you’re interacting will know it.
  • Keep a folder called “The Good.” I have two. One is in my desk drawer and it’s where I file the thank you cards, children’s artwork, letters from parents, note from staff…and the other is in my Outlook inbox where I store much of the same. At those times when I say to myself, “How can I keep up with the demands of this gig? Why do I do this?” I turn to the folders. And I read. And I smile. And I remember very clearly why I do this.
  • Don’t act unless it’s in the best interest of the children. Don’t speak it, say it, do it, unless it benefits kids. Don’t waste energy on things that don’t. Being negative takes more energy than it’s worth. Did you know that?
  • Address the negative. Just like teachers use planned ignoring rather skillfully in their classrooms with students, there are some instances of negativity within an organization that are best ignored. Others are not. When the negativity seeps into the everyday actions of teachers, thus impacting life for students, it is no longer okay. Work with people. Help them see how their negative influences are detrimental to learning and are holding back the organization from greater success.
  • Celebrate. Celebrate everything, particularly the small successes. Help everyone in your organization see the value in what they do. Create a culture where it’s okay to brag. Share! Don’t limit your celebrations to within your school walls- be sure everyone in your community knows how excited you are about your work with kids!

“If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be.” -John Heywood

Prepare and nurture

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I suppose I’ll chime in, better late than never, on The Manifesto. These are my take-aways from the words of Rhee, Klein, et al.:

The widespread policy of “last in, first out” (the teacher with the least seniority is the first to go when cuts have to be made) makes it harder to hold on to new, enthusiastic educators and ignores the one thing that should matter most: performance.

Yes, teacher performance matters. More importantly, teachers matter.

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Of course, we must also do a better job of providing meaningful training for teachers who seek to improve, but let’s stop pretending that everyone who goes into the classroom has the ability and temperament to lift our children to excellence.

Who is pretending this? I have not yet been part of the interview process where I’ve gazed across the table and thought, “Oh, yes, this person has successfully completed a teacher preparation program. They’re ready for this game.” Nor has every experienced teacher I’ve observed been at the top of his/her game in terms of instructional skill set and temperament.

A tweet by Mary Beth Hertz led me to the School District of Philadelphia superintendent Arlene Ackerman’s critique of the manifesto, which somewhat distanced herself from the original composition.

Yes, teachers matter. Thus, it is imperative that we help them or remove those who cannot effectively teach our children. Let us also enlist the entire nation in the pursuit of teacher quality. Let us focus our efforts on the role of the teacher as a pivotal position of new knowledge in a changing society. And in doing so, let us raise the value of teaching as an intellectual and highly prized career, much as it is in other countries.

Agreed. Just as we preach to teachers that the child is at the center of the learning experience, let us, as administrators and school leaders, continue to work tirelessly to prepare and nurture our teachers. What needs to happen for this to occur?

By definition…

Prepare:

  • Make (something) ready for use or consideration
  • Make (someone) ready or able to do or deal with something
  • Make oneself ready to do or deal with something
  • Be willing to do something
  • (in conventional harmony) Lead up to (a discord) by means of preparation

Nurture:

  • The process of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something
  • Upbringing, education, and environment, contrasted with inborn characteristics as an influence on or determinant of personality

Some of us have more influence than others in changing current practice. That’s just a fact, but the excuses I hear about mandates being handed down and disgruntled principals with unrealistic expectations and lazy teachers and parents who don’t parent are just that- excuses. Every single person who works with children has the opportunity to make changes in his/her practice that will better benefit our constituents. Where can we start?

To better prepare new teachers, our efforts need to focus on the collegiate level, on teacher preparation programs, on student teaching regimens, and on new teacher induction/mentoring programs. Develop partnerships with high schools and universities. When I started as principal three years ago, I made it clear to our local state university that I would take as many willing student teachers as possible. They came in droves. They are phenomenal to work with. I know my teachers learn as much from those students as they learn from working with our children. We’re moving forward to an intensive internship program where the college student will spend an entire semester in a classroom, and both the student and cooperating teacher will engage in collaborative professional development beyond the school day in conjunction with university staff.

Our new teacher induction program is also transforming. Assigning new teachers a mentor for one year armed with a loose checklist of things to “cover” and then wishing them well is not the way to go. New teachers need embedded, sustained, peer and administrative support and a scaffolded approach to professional development in their formative years.

Hiring practices need to be tightened up. Too many times, organizations hire looking for the “best fit.” We need to hire the best people, and transform our organizations to meet the standards they exemplify. Our team has studied the work of Stronge to help us in this area.

Nurturing our teachers is equally as time-intensive. Teacher supervision systems need a definite boost. Ours was created from Danielson’s model, and it’s a solid framework. Where we need to put more attention is with the follow-through, professional goal-setting, and reflection. Teacher supervision models should be comprehensive and incorporate elements of administrative observation/conferencing, peer coaching and collaboration, personal action planning and research to improve practice, and reflection upon practice using student achievement and growth data to inform our planning processes. Professional development should be differentiated, teacher-led, and embedded and ongoing. Nurturing our teachers means involving our community members, parents, and students in our school improvement efforts. Reaching out to these stakeholders is essential.

As Ackerman states

A collaborative approach to reform may not be easy, glamorous or movie-worthy, but it is a stronger and sustainable solution that is likely to outlast the tenure of individuals or politicized agendas.

Yesterday one of my dedicated staff members honestly told me, “You look tired.” Darn right I look tired. This education gig is hard work. I am fortunate that I was well-prepared for my role (as any principal can be!) and every day my practice is nurtured by my administrative team, my PLN, my school colleagues and community, and my students.

Let’s prepare and nurture our people to yield performance. Don’t take the people, the relationships, the individuality of our teachers, out of the equation. Doing so lessens the impact of quality teacher preparation programs and supportive organizations that are willing to go the extra mile in preparing and nurturing their teachers. It is evident that there are schools doing it right. By broadening our horizons, collaborating with one another (sharing is our moral imperative, you know), learning from our mistakes, and taking risks to bring the most powerful learning opportunities to our teachers, we can start to transform the role of “teacher” into the title of consummate professional we know deserves to be bestowed upon them.

A recipe for change

Photo by Lara604 on Flickr

(I don’t cook, so, this should be a real hoot.)

Bringing about organizational change is quite an undertaking. Reference any shelf in the business section of Barnes & Noble and hundreds of books have been written addressing the subject.

What if change didn’t have to be difficult? Maybe we’re making educational reform into one superhero-sized mess without much reason.

I’d like to think it boils down to these simple ingredients.

  • An abundant supply of eager, fantastical students, ready and willing to learn
  • A dedicated teaching staff, willing to model problem-solving, creativity, and innovation in the classroom
  • Forward-thinking administrators, willing to take risks to bring the very best to their schools
  • Supportive parents and community members, willing to trust and invest time in their schools and children’s lives
  • Government officials and politicians, willing to become educated about education
  • A network filled with inspiring, connected educators that support and build on each other’s strengths

Directions:

1. Preheat. Get excited. Cheer for stuff, have a pep rally. Look ahead, see the vision. This is exciting!!!

2. Mix together the above ingredients.

3. Work really hard, each and every day. Don’t make a decision unless it’s based upon what’s best for kids.

4. Throughout steps 1-3, Smile. Repeat. Make someone laugh. Be someone’s friend. Connect with someone new.

5. Wait. Patiently. Assess. Is it working? Are our students learning? If not, what can we do differently? If so, let’s tell someone!!

6. While engaged in Steps 1-5, go learn something new. Take a risk and try something. Be a model for ingenuity and creativity. Make a mistake, and learn from it.

Oversimplified? Sure.

Nice to imagine? You bet.

Collectively, educators are starting to create a living, breathing, actionable presence and making positive impacts to change our schools. Not all of us are fortunate enough to have true autonomy with the decisions we make that impact student learning, but every individual who works with children does have the opportunity to make changes that will indeed make a difference. We can’t forget that.

Start with tomorrow- do something differently (think: better) than you did the day before. In your classroom, in your school, in your interactions with students and parents, in your interactions with your administrators.

And don’t forget, it’s okay to enjoy one right out of the oven. 🙂

This post was composed for Tom Whitby’s REBELS Day. Please visit and read the other contributions!!

To cover or uncover?

frustrated teen student long hair adhd

The standards are here. They’ve been here. For many of us, the common core standards are coming, and the weight of their impact on our daily practice is overwhelming. Have you ever sat down, really, with that three-ring binder stuffed full of standards documentation, and read the content we’re expecting students to master in each content area, at each grade level? Do it. It’s staggering.

Teachers are presented with state standards, district curriculum maps, pacing guides, textbooks and long-term planning templates and charged with the task of covering the specified content in the most ideal time frame possible.

Is it good to have a plan? Yes, and pacing guides and curriculum maps can be fine tools to help us wrap our heads around content expectations. However, I don’t think any one of us assumes that every child will learn x amount of content given the same number of days or weeks of the year to learn it. Nothing irks me more than hearing teachers describe how they’re expected to teach lesson 2.3 on Monday, 2.4 on Tuesday, 2.5 on Wednesday, and following a day of brief review, test and move on. And as the content becomes more specialized, who’s to say that every child should learn each and every standard? Are we keeping the focus on individual student needs?

Karl Fisch adds his commentary on this topic in his recent post, What should students know and be able to do?

My bias, however, is that too often in schools we err too much on the side of content. I once heard Cris Tovani, a wonderful reading teacher in Colorado, say,

Yeah, as a teacher I can cover my curriculum. I can get to that finish line. But often when I get to that finish line and look around, I’m all by myself.

That’s even more true today, when we live in a rapidly changing, information abundant world. We live in exponential times. There’s just too much content out there.

So… should schools strive to cover content? Or rather to UNCOVER content? To allow our children to explore, question, and dig deeper into overarching concepts and apply skills learned in real-world, contextual situations?

Simply covering the content does not ensure mastery. It does not promote learning. It does not unleash the learner.

Uncovering content takes the learner on a journey from absolute knowledge, where the student plays a passive role, accepting knowledge as either right or wrong, taking all cues from the teacher….to contextual knowledge, where the learner’s knowledge is built upon evidence in context, and the student’s role is to think through problems and integrate/apply knowledge at a formal operational level. Uncovering content asks students to assume no knowledge is sure knowledge. It asks the student to embrace questioning, testing of ideas, reasoning, forming judgments, and interpretation.

So how can administrators encourage teachers to uncover, rather than cover, content? Here are some thoughts:

1. When writing , revising, and evaluating curriculum, make it a team effort. Include teachers from all disciplines and have them work together to build the foundations. Look for the logical opportunities for integration of disciplines to allow for students to make meaningful connections with the content.

2. Don’t dictate that teachers abide by strict pacing guides. Help teachers develop long-range plans that are comprehensive enough to ensure the curricular needs are met, but flexible enough to support student learners. This includes providing both additional time and intervention for struggling learners as well as compacting of the curriculum and enrichment for students who are capable of moving beyond proficiency in those areas.

3. Make assessments awesome. As we’re rethinking curriculum, we can’t forget about assessment (or instruction, for that matter). Help teachers develop formative, authentic, comprehensive, real-world assessments to evaluate student learning. Be sure self  and peer-evaluation components are included.

4. Stay afloat. Don’t drown in a sea of standards, anchors, and bullets. Consider the big picture, and encourage your teachers to encourage the development of collaboration, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. Help them be literate. Teachers and administrators need to model for children that the process of true learning is never-ending, reflective, and powerful.

Go out and uncover something wonderful today!

Many thanks to my grad professor, Dr. Elias, who always leads us in stimulating conversations and whose words helped spark this post.

It's about people.

helpinghands

Yesterday I spent a considerable amount of time renaming my Google Reader feeds. While I’ve come to recognize many of the titles in my Reader, I did not often associate the blog title with the person behind the virtual pen.

I didn’t like that.

I love scouring these feeds for inspiration. Educators (and students!) from all over the world post their ideas, stories, projects, what they’re reading, and what influences their practices. Their words jumpstart my professional drive and often make my heart swell with admiration for the work with children these educators do.

Computers don’t compose blog posts. People do.

I read a lot of “About” pages and learned more about these blog writers than I ever knew before. And to be honest… if I couldn’t find an author’s name via the blog or a link to Twitter, I re-evaluated keeping the feed in my Reader.

I more closely relate to this

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than this

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At our school we host events like Moms and Muffins and Dads and Donuts -healthy, I know 🙂 -because there is nothing more gratifying than having hundreds of people packed into your gymnasium, engaging in conversations about loving our kids.

1:1 programs, iPads in the classrooms, Smartboards… schools are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into the latest and greatest technologies for their classrooms and student/teacher use. Without quality professional development with connections to learning, are the investments worth it?

Technology/curriculum/standards/programs/policies don’t ensure our children learn. People do.

We’re embarking on a year-long professional development series this week with our elementary teachers focusing on “the shift” in teaching and learning and how we can utilize various technologies to help students delve more deeply into their learning experiences. I will be working with teachers that teach in my building, but also those from two other elementary schools within the district. Teachers in our cohort have been asked to complete some prerequisite activities before our meeting this week, one of which was to watch Shift Happens: 3.0 and reflect upon its contents. Their comments were quite impressive. While some expressed anxiety about potentially becoming buried in an avalanche of new technologies and others were concerned that we will “never catch up,” this insightful reflection reminded me of how the tools are just a small part of what we need to bring to our students:

I think that one of the major implications of “the shift” is that students need guidance and practice in developing strategies to acquire, analyze, and act on the information and communication opportunities that are available through technology so that they will be prepared for whatever technology, tasks, and challenges they will eventually face in their careers. -jhixson

Can technology do this? No.

People can.

You and I can. We can.

Remember that people, and relationships, come first when our shared goal is to provide the best possible learning experiences for students.  Sustainable leadership will only result when people come first.

Go team!

teamwork

The title of our staff’s latest shared Google presentation was, “Go Team Brecknock!” I’m not sure what compelled me to name it that, but I think it’s because the first hour of our morning (before we provided teachers with sweet freedom to collaborate with their grade level peers for the remainder of the day), our discussions focused on the “state of our school,” an overall look at some data trends, where we are, where we need to go, and how we’re going to get there. We are a team, working toward the collective goal of improving learning experiences for all children.

No single person can move a school, therefore team dynamics become critical. We modeled our own professional learning community work after DuFour’s model. One of the “big ideas” of Dufour’s PLC is A Culture of Collaboration:

Educators who are building a professional learning community recognize that they must work together to achieve their collective purpose of learning for all. Therefore, they create structures to promote a collaborative culture…. For teachers to participate in such a powerful process, the school must ensure that everyone belongs to a team that focuses on student learning. Each team must have time to meet during the workday and throughout the school year. Teams must focus their efforts on crucial questions related to learning and generate products that reflect that focus,   such as lists of essential outcomes, different kind of assessment, analyses of student achievement, and strategies for improving results. Teams must develop norms or protocols to clarify expectations regarding roles, responsibilities, and relationships among team members. Teams must adopt student achievement goals linked with school and district goals. –What is a professional learning community? (DuFour, 2004)

What makes a strong team? What makes a dysfunctional team? I’ve seen both in action, and I’ve been part of both. As administrators we need to recognize the characteristics of effective teacher teams so we can build capacity within them, strengthening the organization as a whole. To further extend this collaborative power for learning, teachers can and should incorporate team-building and team problem-solving activities into their classrooms with students.

A team of researchers from Centre for Innovation in Education from the Queensland University for Technology set out to identify the characteristics of effective school-based teams through the lens of micropolitics. Their findings are relevant for schools and school-based systems dealing with school-based management and similar reforms/restructurings in that they developed a tool to assess and enhance the effectiveness of teams. Critical reflection of team dynamics should include a look at the

  • clarity of the team’s role and objectives
    • competence and credibility of the team members
    • uniformity of members’ values and their commitment to team work
    • interpersonal relationships and communication among members and between members and other staff
    • accessibility of professional development opportunities for the team and for its individual members

    Developing strengths in these dimensions will better establish school teams in that they will be more prepared to engage in decision-making processes, develop better relationships among colleagues, and embrace future possibilities rather than focus on current realities (Cranston, Ehrich, Reugebrink, & Gaven, 2002).

    I am generally pleased with the collaborative efforts my teachers are making. Each team is finding their way… each team member is defining and honing his/her role in that team. One area where we need to develop is in our team leadership/coaching roles. Team leaders were appointed and attended professional development sessions on coaching and adult learning. This experience was not enough to impress upon our teacher leaders the essential components that exemplify a true leader. They need continuous exposure to new ideas, time to conduct peer observation and reflections, and time spent with administration to work at defining and refining the shared vision and goals of the school. Most of all, these team leaders need to extend trust to all members of the team and school, and need to be trusted by all. This aspect requires a lot of work and dedication on everyone’s part.

    Finally, I’d like to share @l_hilt’s Dos & Don’ts of team dynamics….

    • Do seek to act upon that which you can positively change. Don’t be negative and dwell on things you cannot.
    • Do be a giver. Don’t be selfish.
    • Do understand that “the way we’ve always done things” is not necessarily the best way to help students learn. Don’t get sucked into a solitary cave of complacency.
    • Do communicate clearly, accurately, and respectfully. Don’t hide your feelings about a situation or make them known maliciously.
    • Do be open and accepting. Don’t be defensive.
    • Do realize that you are not the most important part of the equation. Don’t forget for one second that the child is.

    They're children.

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    Last week an educator who happens to be my current grad class professor impressed upon us the most simple, yet profound realization: “They’re children.”

    Do we sometimes forget that? Do we sometimes focus on the fact that they’re not sitting still…not making direct eye contact with us during a lesson…make lapses in judgment which lead to questionable behaviors…not exerting enough effort on assignments….not studying enough for a test…and the list goes on.

    We are the adults. We chose this profession because, I should sincerely hope, we want to serve as role models in the lives of our students and impact their lives in meaningful ways.

    He said, “Even the 18 year olds, who put on a tough exterior, are children at heart.”

    It’s true. We have to give them our best. We can’t transform into selfish, immature, negative souls just because something doesn’t go our way. Is it going their way? What do they need us to be? Are we doing the very best with the resources, time, and capacity we’re given to help them learn? Day after day? Are we working to better ourselves for them?

    They need us to be strong. They need us to be confident. They need us to take risks and not be afraid of making mistakes. They need us to believe in them on their worst days, and celebrate them on their best days. No one is perfect. No child is perfect. But they’re our children. And they’re the reasons we come to work each and every day.

    Sometimes, in the moments when we believe we’ve reached our breaking points, in the times when we feel as though we’ll never have enough resources or time to make a difference, we need to remember that our children spend 8 hours a day with us, and that it is our charge to help them learn and love to learn. No school is perfect. No one ever has enough “time.” But the time we do have with our students should be cherished. We must dedicate ourselves to accepting the challenges each new day brings, and to do better than we did the day before.

    Why? Because they’re children. And we owe it to them. Every word we say, every action we take, every effort we give to classroom activities is important to them, whether they outwardly display it or not.

    Remember this, each and every day!