Jun
24
2013

Who is making a difference? I need your help!

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Last summer, I set out to interview 10 connected educators. The goals was two-fold… I wanted to learn from the “best” to improve my practice of being a connected principal, and I wanted to continue paying it forward through my blog. I learned so much from those amazing educators (feel free to check out the participants below).

As I reflect on this summer, I am still pondering… Since I learned so much last summer why don’t I continue the project this summer.

So I am asking for advice…

Who is out there making a difference in the lives of students, teachers, communities, etc? Who has transcended the mundane aspects of education? Who has done something different? Who should I contact this summer for a skype interview? What can I learn from them? How are they making a difference? Please send me your suggestions… I can’t wait to hear back from you!

 

Spread the word!

2012 Summer Blogging Project Participants:

George Couros

Justin Tarte

Dwight Carter

Nerdy Teacher

Chris Wejr

Todd Whitaker  

Erin Klein 

Patrick Larkin 

Kelly Tenkly 

Jessica Johnson 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jun
23
2013

In the future of education, are there boundaries?

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As educators, we are on the cusp of a change that has never been experienced before. Let’s face it… for the last few hundred years education has been teacher-directed, memorization focused and even a tad bit mundane…. Not much has changed and there are scores of generations who are quite proud to utter the statement, “When I went to school….”

 

So what has changed, or what will change? Well, maybe things won’t change, per say, but there will certainly be a shift.

 

The top 5 paradigm shifts in the education of the future

 

1. Assessment

Currently, the assessment and anti-assessment movements are vying for position. It’s unlikely that the assessment machine will lose momentum because there are specific reasons for its existence, namely …. accountability. Assessments in the future, however, will differ from those currently being used as companies develop individual, technology-based measures to mark progress. Students will be assessed individually and progress will be focused on the individual. In a sense, every child will have an Individual Education Plan. How this impacts you now? Become familiar with your students interests as it relates to your curriculum. Get ahead of the curve and have students set their own goals and mark their own progress to achieving those goals.

 

2. Learning

As much as we focus on teaching, there has been a significant gap in the true understanding of how an individual “learns” information. Since there is a shift to personalized learning, be prepared to be bombarded with various learning theories that will offer solutions to the age old question… How do I learn? How this impacts you now? Familiarize yourself with the major learning theories and be able to articulate how you learn information. With that same information, develop intentional teaching methods (chances are you teach the way you learn) and allow students to teach you how they learn.

 

3. Time

The current state of education has a specific formula… time is the constant, and learning is the variable… Look for this shift to be more focused on learning as the constant and time as the variable… Increased time for school, a complete 180 degree turn from the 180 day school year. In the future, with the assistance of technology, time will no longer dominate learning. How this impacts you now? Research flipped learning and how using web 2.0 tools can extend your students learning (ie NOT more homework, but rather more chances to extend learning opportunities). It starts with you…. how do you extend your own learning beyond the school day?

 

4. High School

The high school of the future will look completely different from the typical American high school that has produced generations of graduates. Gone will be the packed hallways and kids with backpacks waiting for the bell to prompt them to their next task. As high school transforms, there will be opportunities for students to attend college earlier, vocational opportunities that will allow students to enter the “real” world much earlier. How this impacts you now? Well, if you teach High School it will be extremely important to justify your position (think beyond current state mandates such as I teach Physical Education and it is required for four years). You need to make your class/learning so important that you have a line out of your class of students wanting to get a chance to learn.

 

5. Boundaries

If social media is able to allow 24 hour, 7 days a week learning and connections, be prepared to witness the boundaries currently associated with “schooling” such as brick and mortar buildings, classrooms and compulsory requirements on time spent in the system to change. Schooling, as we know it, will look, smell and feel much different than it has been and the boundaries will be stretched beyond your current imagination. How this impacts you now? Chances are if you are reading this then you have begun (or are well on your way) to self-directed, 24/7 learning. Chances are you are also sharing this information with others and connecting with educators throughout the world. Keep it up… spread the word… changes are coming!

 

In the future of education, will there be boundaries?

Jun
15
2013

Let’s talk about …. Cheese!

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As I was driving into work last week, I was thinking about our final staff meeting of the school year. I had an agenda, and was fully prepared to carry out the agenda. Then I thought about all of the changes facing my school next year: Model Curriculum (NJ’s transition to the Common Core), Model Assessments (NJ’s transition to the PARCC), new teacher evaluation, new principal evaluation, increased state monitoring of student data and not to mention any other changes that we would want to address our own, unique needs. Then it hit me… A great clip to show the staff (and myself included) would be the classic video, Who Moved My Cheese? based off the book by Dr. Spencer Johnson.

 

After the clip concluded, the staff actually began to clap. In talking about the clip, I stressed that I too have had my cheese moved and that next year we will all be in the maze… together. Throughout the rest of the week, teachers referenced cheese moving…

 

As you think of next year, what cheese has been moved? How will you deal with this change? Do you have a person definition of how you deal with change?

 

 

Jun
01
2013

The end is coming…

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summer sunYes, the end is coming to  the 2012-13 school year. We are in our last days. We are so close….. so why does that matter?

 

I feel the traditional school year (based on the agrarian calender) is antiquated and I am not alone in this thinking. For many students we provide something they are not getting at home, or in their community… What a juxtaposition… In a few short weeks teachers and administrators will be cheering, celebrating, and making their summer plans a reality…. and many students will be sad, upset, and realizing their summer will pale in comparison to the school year. Sad isn’t it.

I certainly do not have the answers but I sure do have a lot of questions as to why we continue to follow this antiquated system.

summerlearning1-10b

– Do we make school calender decisions based on our needs, or student learning needs?

– Could we restructure the school year to build in more time for students (Currently we have 180 days beginning in September and ending in June, can we get everything accomplished during this time?)

– Does the current calender maximize student and teacher effectiveness? (I hear a LOT of chatter about burn-out during certain times of the year)

– If given the opportunity to restructure the calender, what would YOU suggest? What are some other states, countries doing to maximize their calenders?


 

Let’s discuss… I’ve got all summer 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

May
20
2013

If this is water… what is education?

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I was recently sent this amazing video made from a commencement speech title “This is Water.” The speech, given by David Foster Wallace, which was hardly known until it was discovered by The Glossary a few years after David had passed away.

 

In the beginning few lines of the speech, Wallace describes two young fish swimming past and older fish who says, “Good morning boys, how is the water?” The two young fish swim on and eventually one asks “What the hell is water?”

 

I’ve watched this video about 5 times now, and have discussed it with friends, co-workers and relatives. Now I ponder to myself, as a principal… if this is water, then what is education?

 

Let’s get the conversation started…. Tell me… what is education?

 

 

May
18
2013

We can do better…

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Our school recently participated in the annual state testing of students in grades 3, 4 and 5. I noticed after the first day was complete that we had a lot “free” time in the afternoon. Not to mention, there were a fair share of kids who ended up in my office for discipline related issues that emerged from…. you guessed it…. “free time.”

 

Considering the fact that the actual assessments were only about 90 minutes (at the most) I was a bit dismayed at the lack of structure after the testing. I heard a lot of comments such as “they need a break,” “this testing is overwhelming,” and even “these kids can’t take anything more today.” I sent out a blanket email detailing my expectations, and highlighting what I valued. This whole situation took me back to my first year of teaching when I learned a valuable lesson about how we can do better.

 

 

I was finishing up my first marking period and I had to get my grades finished. In order to accomplish this task I put in the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about fall, Halloween or anything other than keeping the kids occupied so I could get my work completed. I needed time. My mentor, a fantastic, passionate teacher who I admired, asked me about the movie I was showing. I told him that I really needed to get my grades finished. He was understanding, but then he said something to me that I will never forget. He said, “I really hate it when my son comes home and tells me that he just watched a movie in school. I really think, as educators, that we can do better than that. These kids can watch movies anytime, we should be able to do more.” That was like a dagger through my heart. Ouch. He was right. We can do better.

 

Since that time I have never showed a mindless movie, and refuse to allow it as an administrator. I firmly agree with my mentor…. we can do better. Sure, kids can watch movies that are connected to the curriculum, or even parts of movies but we should always make sure that what we do is connected. We should always be raising the rigor, extending the line, raising the bar. Always! We can do better!

 

So what happened the rest of the week? Honestly, I saw more engagement, projects and even more of what I had seen before we started the assessments. I had to have some conversations with teachers about my expectations and why I feel so passionately that we need to continue to send the right message to the students, parents and community. I know some of the teachers were not happy with me and I understand. I was there before and I am so thankful that someone challenged me to keep the bar raised high! We can do better! 

 

We can do better! 

 

May
11
2013

Teachers, You Make Kids BLOOM!

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Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Dear Teachers,

My wife developed and implemented the idea…

You have no idea the power that you possess. You make kids BLOOM!

 

When I think of teacher appreciation, I start by thinking of my second grade teacher Mrs. Levin. Second grade was tough for me and I almost didn’t make it through. Yes, I actually had to go to summer school in order to pass into 3rd grade. I missed a lot of school that year, chose not to wear my glasses, had trouble focusing, rushed through assignments, did silly things to end up on the bench and was an overall pain in the (you know what).

 

My second grade class (I’m back row second from left)

Despite all of that, Mrs. Levin cared about me and was patient with me even though I probably let her down very often. Reflecting back on second grade, I realize that she taught me a lot more than just Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science, she taught me to believe in myself. Had it not been for Mrs. Levin, I would not be where I am today.

 

The down side of teacher appreciation is that you may never hear or know the impact that you have had on a student (in my case I never told Mrs. Levin) but you must realize that you too have made a difference in the lives of children…. There is someone, somewhere who truly appreciated what you did for them (or their child)…

 

Here is a video I had the students at RM Bacon make to show appreciation to their teachers while they are still here! The message of the video is quite clear… Students like teachers because they are nice, help them learn, and support them…


And that is why we are teachers!

 

Thank You!

May
05
2013

Solving the achievement gap through cooperative grouping

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Part 3 of the ongoing series where students are solving the achievement gap issues at RM Bacon….

Cooperative learning requires patience

During our 3rd week we had the students spend the entire day steeped in cooperative learning. In preparing  for this, we thought a lot about how we teach kids to work cooperatively as opposed to just having them work on an assignment in close proximity. Cooperative learning is difficult… especially when you combine students in grades 3, 4 and 5 who may have never worked together prior to this program. Honestly, how often can adults say they really work collaboratively? (that’s another blog for another time).

 

We spent the first part of the morning teaching the students how to work cooperatively. We made sure that they understood that everyone in the group needed a responsibility  We taught them how to honor brainstorming ideas. We taught them group consensus tools (thumbs up, down or in the middle). Everything had to be voted on and the students had to learn the art of consensus. For instance, in one group the discussion boiled down to one question… How could they get Timothy from thumbs down (he opposed it) to thumbs in the middle (he could live with it).  Ironically, it was Timothy’s own idea that he eventually couldn’t live with and the group had to re-work their plan. Frustration! Tears!

 

Cooperative learning is not always fun

All three groups had tears. It was difficult for students to truly honor ideas, plans and even concerns regarding their projects. Even though we modeled cooperative learning and facilitated the groups, we still had struggles. The students became very frustrated with each other, some felt left out…. all of the kids wanted to give up at some point. We stayed with them and helped them through the struggles. After seeing the frustrations evident in each group we all looked at each other and said ‘they need a break.’

 

During the break, we took the kids outside for some fun team building exercises. Although it was a simple activity, the kids loved it. They had to get a ball around the circle (without giving it to the person next to them and they could only touch it once). We modeled manners (which actually helps the students understand the pattern of the game). Anytime they passed the ball they had to say the person’s name. Anytime they caught the ball they had to say “Thank you” and then the person’s name. As the students figured out the pattern, they were able to add in multiple balls and one team were able to have 7 going at the same time. Success!

 

The second half of the day went much better. Eventually the groups were able to able to plan their PBL projects. One group chose to do an imovie, another group chose to do a dramatic song, and the 3rd group chose to do a classroom skit. Next week we begin filming!

Apr
27
2013

Saturday Success Program Week 2: It’s all about learning

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Completed success with the tangrams

I have learned that the purpose of this program is create opportunities for our learners to achieve success! Believe me….. the tasks this week were frustrating (All the teachers have to do the activities and experience the frustration along with the students).

 

Our morning activity was a lesson on metacognition (how we process new information). The students did an exercise that allowed them to experience the metacognitive process (mull, connect, rehearse, express, assess, reflect, revisit and learn). I learned this exercise through working with Let Me Learn, an organization whose mission is to research and provide insights into the learning process.

 

In math and language arts, in addition to the allotted time on Success Maker, the students were presented with problem solving activities through the use of Tangrams. Our teachers assisted the students through the process as they experienced frustration with the task. All students eventually solved their Tangrams puzzles and were elated! This lesson integrated percentages, spatial sense, vocabulary, angles and revisited a variety of math concepts.

 

Success!

In the Problem Based Learning, we asked the students to reflect on three simple questions:

  1. What makes school hard for you?
  2. What would you do to show your teacher you learned something
  3. What activities do you like to do outside of school? How would you show a friend how to do that activity?

 

The discussion on learning was very interesting. The students were able to make connections about how they learn things naturally and how they are required to come out of that comfort zone in school.  Next week will build on their learner-awareness and they will begin to formulate their ideas on how they can help close the achievement gap!

 

Our final activity was Silly Cup. We split into 4 teams and we had to flip a cup over so it was right side up. Of course our team won, but eventually every student completed the activity and they all got to keep their cup. The students and teachers were cheering each other on, and we ended the day on a very positive note.